


Arrangements

by linsang



Category: Discworld - Terry Pratchett, 逆転裁判 | Gyakuten Saiban | Ace Attorney
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-18
Updated: 2016-12-18
Packaged: 2018-09-09 11:29:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 917
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8889106
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/linsang/pseuds/linsang
Summary: The Fey clan has always had... special dispensation, when it comes to moving on.





	

Her head _throbbed_ , but she could still see. Mia moved her hand experimentally. It, indeed, moved - but it also didn't. Rather, a blue-white sheen impression of her hand, a bad film effect from a dodgy B-grade movie, moved. This was her. Beneath that, her real hand - her flesh and blood hand, rapidly growing colder - remained, irritatingly, still. That _had been_ her.

"Oh," she said, quietly. "I'm... dead."

YES.

She was in the Fey & Co. Law Offices. It was dark. What had happened? She'd opened the door. There had been... an incident. She looked down at herself.

"Dead..."

INDEED.

There were people in the office. One darkened figure was scabbling around her desk, rummaging through her files. The other was standing right next to her, not looking at her exactly, but instead at something he held in one hand. Mia squinted. An hourglass.

The figure shifted slightly. MISTRESSS FEY, it said. Well, not _said_ exactly, as such; it was more like words that dropped directly into one's head, such that you didn't remember actually hearing any words, just the sheer, certain knowledge that words had existed. I BELIEVE THAT ARRANGEMENTS HAVE BEEN MADE.

"Have they?" Mia asked. Her head didn't hurt so much anymore, or indeed, at all. She stood up. Or perhaps she was already standing. It was hard to tell.

YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN INFORMED.

The office was fading, slowly but surely. Mia started, remembering something.

"Maya! She's - she's supposed to-"

IT WOULD BE BEST NOT TO BECOME OVER-EXCITED, the figure rumbled. It still had not turned around, but was examining the hourglass with professional care. MOST CURIOUS.

"But she's going to-"

PERHAPS. PERHAPS NOT. WE MAY WAIT, IF YOU PLEASE.

"Can we?" asked Mia. "I don't remember a lot from my training, exactly, but aren't you normally... um, very busy?"

ARRANGEMENTS HAVE BEEN MADE.

They waited. The figure rummaging through her files did a few other small tasks and left. Mia watched her own body cool, and found to her surprise that she wasn't that shocked about it. 

IT BECOMES LESS IMPORTANT FROM THE OUTSIDE. A cough, or an approximation of one. SO I HAVE BEEN TOLD. I AM NOT PERSONALLY FAMILIAR.

"I guess I knew the risks."

SO IT GOES.

There was a knocking on the door, polite at first, and then more frantic. Then scabbling at the door handle, the discovery that it was unlocked, until finally Maya - her little sister - burst into the room, fear and panic on her face. Then she saw Mia's crumpled form, and her face went completely pale.

"Maya..." Mia said, said, sadly, as the girl knelt by her feet, little frame heaving with sobs. She shouldn't have to see this. The blood. Her body. "This isn't right. It isn't fair."

NO. IT ISN'T.

"I can't...?"

I AM NO MEDIUM. BUT I SUSPECT SHE IS NOT IN THE CORRECT FRAME OF MIND AT PRESENT. 

"She's in danger. She might die."

EVERYBODY DIES.

Mia whirled on the figure, drawing her arm back almost instinctively (mentally preparing herself for the sting of fles- spirit on bone), but stopped. Her companion was looking at the young girl, but in its (his?) hand, held another, larger hourglass. The top was comfortingly full of sand.

Death turned slowly. and looked at Mia, and one blue supernova glow in one socket winked very momentarily out of existence. He put the hourglass back into his robe.

MY GRAND-DAUGHTER IS PERHAPS ONLY SLIGHTLY OLDER THAN HER, he said, after some time. I MENTION THIS ONLY AS AN ASSORTED PIECE OF TRIVIA AND NOT AN EXPLANATION FOR PRIOR ACTIONS.

More footsteps, running this time, and Phoenix Wright burst into the room. There was some more yelling, and moments of horror. Maya fainted, and Nick, good soul that he was, took her to the couch before turning back to the room. Mia could see; he was shocked, that much was clear, but he wasn't gone. He was made of sterner stuff, and his training had held. He made sure her sister was okay. He checked the office, checked her files. Checked her body. Found the receipt in her hand. Mia frowned.

"A set-up?"

CLUMSY. MORE OF AN EXCUSE THAN CONCLUSIVE EVIDENCE. Mia swore she could detect a slight hint of disdain.

"Does it particularly matter to you?" Mia asked, watching Phoenix desperately attempting to operate the sabotaged phone. "No offence."

THERE IS SUCH A THING AS DOING THINGS PROPERLY. EVEN SET-UPS. Death snapped his fingers, imperiously, and the scene faded around them. SPEAKING OF WHICH. WE HAD BEST DISCUSS YOUR ARRANGEMENTS, MISTRESS FEY.

"I'm sorry," she said, looking around. Grey sand crunched underfoot. "It's been so long since I left the village... I barely remember anymore."

DO NOT WORRY. I BELIEVE IT WILL BE ON A COLLECT CALL BASIS.

Mia was confused. "Uh, what?"

THE FEY CLAN HAS SPECIAL DISPENSATION. BUT I AM AFRAID YOU WILL, FIRST, NEED TO COME WITH ME. THERE IS SOME PAPERWORK TO COMPLETE.

"And after that?"

In the dull, comforting greyness of the desert, Death's scythe glowed a brilliant, pulsating blue, contrasting nicely with the vivid green light of Mia's magatama. He paused, as if weighing his words.

THAT IS UP TO THE LIVING, he said, finally. AND IN SOME SMALL SENSE, TO YOU. MAY I?

"Huh? Oh, yes," said Mia, a dimly remembered lesson springing to mind. Death swung his scythe. "All I can do is believe in them... and believe in myself, I suppose."

MOST COMFORTING. THIS WAY, PLEASE, MISTRESS FEY...


End file.
